Lord of the Three Realms Scarlet
by dragonwings221
Summary: Sky, Earth, and Water. The Lords rule them all. An ancient race of wizards and witches live with few even knowing of their existence. When one such witch is thrown into her heritage, she must face a journey within herself to discover who she really is
1. Prologue Of Teachers and Dragons

_Prologue_

**Of Teachers and Dragons**

Tor contemplated the stars.

Lying on his back among the scrubby brush of the hillside, he looked up. Thousands of pinpricks of light winked back at him teasingly, swirling and dancing on the velvety black sky. The night insects buzzed in his ear, and the waves grumbled against the cliffs in the distance, as he leaned back, his head resting in his hands as he wondered.

It was a warm night. Tor had tossed and turned in his bunk until his younger brother Crush barked loudly in complaint. He abandoned his fruitless attempt at sleep, punched his grumbling brother for good measure, and wandered up through the wide streets of Athdara, the city of his kin and ancestors. Tor breathed in the sweet scent of the crushed grass beneath his back, and sighed. At dawn, his churning stomach told him, his future would be decided.

Only a few short months had passed for Torin Xavier since he became a Lord of the Three Realms. His apprenticeship had been long and quarrelsome, and immediately after he was granted his full title Tor left the small Greek island Telesto far behind. Traveling the world, the winds lifting him from one place to another, had suited him.

Tor crossed his legs considering the stars. The light played tricks on his eyes as they blurred in and out of focus. Crush had brought him home to Telesto, his apprenticeship luring Tor back to the city. So the young spirited boy had decided to abandon their family and come to the Lords as well. _Good for him _Tor had snorted, and left for Athdara the next day.

A faint gray light was bleeding into the dark sky. Tor sat up rolling his shoulders. He would be expected in the Concourse soon. When the Council said dawn, they meant the moment the first lights of sunrise shot across the horizon. They didn't appreciate tardiness. Tor yawned, so much for sleep.

Vaguely he wondered why he was being summoned. Rarely was a Lord, especially one as young and inexperienced as himself, called upon by the Council of the Three Realms. Crush had brought a message for him from his mentor Oberon, who was a member of the council. The youthful drake was convinced Tor had somehow gotten into trouble, and as usual it delighted and enthralled him. Crush had demanded to know what Tor had done, but Tor himself didn't know.

Tor rocked onto his feet and stood. He abandoned his comfortable cradle of dry grasses in favor of the warm summer air. The ground was hard beneath his bare feet, and bits of grass and dirt clung to the skin of his chest sticky with sweat. Upon leaving the small set of apartments he and Crush shared Tor hadn't even bothered to change out of his loose trousers cut short at the knee, or throw on a shirt before leaving the house. It was early morning and no one would be on the cobbled streets except for him.

_And the Council won't see it _he reminded himself as he ran his hand over his short bristly hair. Usually his dark hair was long and unkempt, haphazardly tied back in a tail. Crush had sheered it short during his first night home. Crush always managed to get Tor angry at him. He managed to get everyone angry at him with his pestering ways. Maybe that was why he left home. Jago Xavier, their father, had a violent temper. As he squinted across the hillside he scratched absentmindedly at a diamond of sparkling black scaling at the center of his chest. It was small, about half the size of his palm, but it was his mark. It was the mark his dragon self left upon him even when he was human.

A light breeze, cool and salty, was swept up the sea towards him, luring him towards the sky. From his lofty perch high up on the ridge above Athdara, Tor could see the ocean. Rippling away from him in a wine dark sheet the sea was a source of great joy for him. As a Lord he was a master of all three Realms. But the water brought the greatest joy for him.

The horizon was pink now. It faded smoothly from the red hues to velvety black over his head. Tor looked towards the edge of the cliff and smiled. He broke into a run, unawares of the hard ground biting at the calloused soles of his feet.

Magic vibrated through his limbs. A dragon roared for released. He swelled in size, and blue-black scales rippled from the point at the center of his chest. His copper eyes glowed bright gold like molten metal, and the pupils became cat-like slits. Without hesitation he leaped from the lip of the cliff and bat-like wings snapped out from his long sides. Tor-as-dragon glided into the air, skimming above the rounded rooftops of Athdara. Gleaming in the faint dawn light like a thousand pieces of volcanic glass Tor gained altitude rapidly.

The wind was cooling on his hot sides. Tor grunted, he knew his golden eyes swirled copper with pleasure. Although he was a big dragon, less than graceful in the air, he loved flying. He loved the feel as he soared and twisted through the night sky. How his father could have risked and lost this life he would never know.

From high above Telesto was just a small sliver of earth. A thin crescent island cupping a perfectly round bay, with a tiny island at the center. The island, Ganymede, was a jagged jut of rock with a huge rounded building of white stone positioned precariously at its peak. The center island was where the massive Three Realms Concourse was located.

Tor snorted a cloud of wispy black smoke and dipped his wings. In a shallow dive he wheeled towards Ganymede, his destination. The concourse was a massive ancient Greek temple, circular with towering columns flanked by statues of Lords passed. The center of the roof was open, a large enough opening for a dragon to pass through.

He skimmed above the calm harbor lazily dragging a claw through the water. Ganymede was surrounded by a thin rim of black sand beach. Tor curved up over it flying swiftly past the endless staircases that wound their way through the gray stone to the Concourse. Like Tor, most of the time the Lords simply flew to the Concourse abandoned the staircase altogether. The building stood regally on the peak of the island. The elegant lanterns hanging from the columns were lit, everlasting flames lit from the throats of dragons flickering in their glass depths. It meant the Council was waiting.

Tor curved around the building and onto its roof. Immediately he flared his massive wings kicking up swirls of sparkling dust. He hovered above the wide dragon entrance to the Concourse. Slowly, carefully, he lowered his great bulk into the building below. With a clatter of talons on stone he landed at the center of a massive amphitheater. It was lit by huge open air fire pits positioned around the building. At the head of the building of white stone was the stage, where three dragons watched calmly as Tor folded his wings at his side.

He felt a gentle presence at the edge of his mind. Like walking into a room and sensing someone watching you, or the feel of being followed. Instead of swinging around to see who it was, Tor opened his mind to the presence, letting the feelings and thoughts of the three dragons before him flood through his own.

_Welcome, Lord Xavier of the Three Realms. _Elder Raiko's rich, deep voice filled his ears. The dark, deep green dragon gazed at Tor with warmly brown-swirling eyes.

_Thank you _Tor dipped his angular head respectfully _But I must ask. Why was I called here today?_

Elder Raiko Elvira, the leader of the Council, glanced at his companions. A red dragon, the deepest color of red wine, edged foreword gazing at Tor carefully. Thane Weylyn, the youngest member of the Council. _Lord Xavier, I have a task for you._

Tor raised his head, eyes bright with interest. If the Council had summoned him to give him a mission, it must be important. Perhaps it had something to do with the wizarding war up north. It was lying dormant now, as its instigator Lord Voldemort was lost and drifting, but every Lord of the Three Realms knew the war could strike again as suddenly as a cobra.

Thane sighed and blinked tiredly. _My son…is dead._

Tor gaped with shock. _What? _He demanded, forgetting his place for a moment.

Thane looked deeply pained as he coiled his tail around his claws. His eyes swirled sadly. _Keon and his wife were found dead in their home, in America. It is still unknown as to why they were dead. _

Everyone knew of Thane's son Keon. Many years ago Keon had left the magic world and the Three Realms completely behind for a muggle woman. They had fled to America. But he was dead? Keon was a young Lord, only about eighty years whereas Lords could live well into centuries. Thane struggled to speak, Tor could feel his pain thrumming across their mental link. Oberon, the rich gold dragon, continued the story for his fellow Elder.

_Fortunately their daughter, Blaez, was out at the time, riding her horse. _He said levelly _But where does that leave us? We have decided to bring her to Europe where she will continue her magic studies, per her father's request. However a situation has arisen making it clear that Blaez's destiny as a Lord is very important._

Everyone also knew of the child, and how she was forbidden to even consider the dragon half of her soul. It was an atrocity leaving many angry Queens debating whether or not to go "rescue" the young girl. Of course the Council suppressed it immediately.

Thane managed to pick up the story. _While we consider the new facts written in the stars, Blaez will study under an old friend of the Lords. Albus Dumbledore has offered Blaez a place in his school which we have gladly accepted._

Tor couldn't help himself any longer. _But Elder Thane, where do I come into all of this?_

Thane blinked his scaly lids. _Blaez needs a mentor. A young dragon flexible enough to teach her by the cloak of night at her school. Lord Torin Xavier, would you travel north to teach my granddaughter of her ancestral magic? _

The black dragon shook his head in a show of confusion. A mane of long quills tipped with a deadly toxin stood up on his throat. The air misted with his poisons as he chewed over what the Council was asking him to do. Leave Telesto? After only returning a few months ago? And Crush, he'd be leaving his little brother without a family. But the floppy black haired boy would be fine, he was practically the foster child of many a family on the island. But there was so many things wrong with becoming a mentor. Tor was half the age of most Lords when they first receive an Apprentice, and he'd be teaching a Queen. Never did a drake teach a queen, or a queen teach a drake, it was just not done.

Thane sensed his confusion. _We chose you Lord Xavier because you know what secrecy requires. For reasons we cannot tell you just yet this needs to remain between ourselves. _

_You are an adaptable drake, Tor _Oberon, his former mentor, rumbled affectionately _Can you imagine a stodgy old dragon like me traveling to England to teach a student away from Telesto?_

_Please Lord Xavier _Thane suddenly pleaded _Will you do this for the Lords of the Three Realms? _

Tor looked at his claws, and at the stage again. Crush would be fine, he was sure. Suddenly he knew what the right answer was. _Yes. _

**Author's Note: **This is a Harry Potter fic, just give it a couple chapters lol. Also this is a slight crossover with Robin Hobb's Liveship Traders Trilogy. As I'm sure you know, portions of this story belong to Jk Rowling, Robin Hobb, and myself. Reviews muchly appreciated!


	2. Backstory

**Backstory**

The Lords of the Three Realms are an ancient race of witches and wizards. Long before the original Lords of the Three Realms, real dragons that ruled the three realms of sky, earth, and water, a group of wizarding kind made a pact with the intelligent creatures. In exchange for protection for their families, they assisted the dragons in any way possible. Being so closely linked with the magically powerful creatures the wizarding kind began to take on their characteristics. They developed dual personalities. One of a dragon, one of a human being. Just before the death of the last dragons, to preserve their caretakers they balanced out their natures. They were given dragon forms, and taught how to pass freely from one to the other.

When the last dragon died, the dragon-humans became The Lords of the Three Realms. They established their stronghold in a small island off the coast of Greece, called Telesto. There they built lives for themselves and lived in secret, where they could raise and train their young without the bother of the outside world.

The Lords developed a very clear hierarchy and training system. When a Lord is born, they live with their families. They learn to fly and the basics of transformation from their parents as they are raised. When they turn seven years old, a very important age in the world of the Three Realms, they are apprenticed. They are assigned a mentor and their lives are consumed by training to become full Lords. During this time if they can they stay with their families, if not they live in the Concourse dormitories. They train for thirteen years with their mentors and other apprentices. If they are deemed ready, at twenty years old they go on a quest so to speak. They must visit the world, touching down on each continent seven times, for one year. Then at twenty one they are granted the title as Lord of the Three Realms. After this time their aging slows considerably. Should they choose they can get their first Apprentice at age forty, but they still look as if they are twenty.

The Council of the Three Realms is a trio of the wisest, most experienced drakes in the Three Realms. They make decisions for the Three Realms and are advised by Queens, who are truly the rulers of the roost so to speak. But Queens are notoriously hot tempered and spirited, and they are not trusted to be part of the Council.

**Lords we meet/hear of**

_The Council of the Three Realms_

**(Elder) Raiko Elvira –**

Drake, 400 years old

The oldest Lord, a shorter but large brawny man with dark skin and brown eyes, an equally large and bulky dark green drake

**(Elder) Oberon-**

Drake, 254 years old

A tall slender man with long silver hair and elf-like features combined with a soft voice, he his a solid gold dragon

**(Elder) Thane Weylyn-**

Drake, 168 years old

The youngest Elder, very tall with strong features and a huge thunderous voice, a wine red dragon

_Lords of the Three Realms_

**Torin Xavier-**

Drake, 25 years old

A tall, thickly muscled and dark haired twenty five year old with a jet black dragon form that his massive, much larger then the average dragon

_Apprentices_

**Crush Xavier**-

Drake, 15 years old

Mentor- Oberon

Nothing like his brother, small and slight but tall with long unkempt dark hair and hazel eyes vs. Tor's copper ones, a slender navy blue dragon

**Blaez Aldhouse Weylyn**-

Queen, 14 years old

Mentor- Tor

A small and willowy girl with dark hair, strong green eyes, and a freckled complexion, she is an equally small and slender queen that is one of the fastest and most naturally skilled fliers Tor has ever met

_Lords outside of the Three Realms_

**Jago Xavier-**

His aggressive behavior and an act so unforgivable that no one ever speaks of it (raping and killing another Lord) got him kicked out of the Three Realms. He joined the Death Eaters and uses his black-dragon form to their advantage

**Keon Aldhouse (Weylyn)-**

A lord who fell in love with a muggle woman, Jen Aldhouse, and abandoned the Three Realms to be with her. They became horse racing tycoons in the Southern United States and gave birth to a daughter who is prophesized to save Harry Potter, somehow for still unknown reasons Keon and Jen are both found dead in their daughter's third year of school


	3. Chapter One A Scarlet Mark

_Chapter One_

**A Scarlet Mark**

The room was empty, bare, lifeless. Blaez sat with her legs crossed in the middle of the Great Room, her arms folded over her knees as she gazed around the massive space. The floor was sleek and shiny beneath the morning light. The maids had mopped and polished it before they also took their leave. Almost all of the servants who had populated her life since she was a young child at Aldhouse Manor were gone. Only a skeleton crew of groundskeepers, horse grooms, a cook, and a single butler remained to maintain the southern plantation.

Blaez leaned back and closed her eyes, groping after the memories that littered this place, the Manor and Plantation where she grew up. At thirteen short years of life her memories of the Great Room were limited, she had spent very few precious hours of her life in the place where her father and mother hosted jovial parties and gatherings. Normally there was a Grand piano, just over there by the window. Blaez had been taught how to play by her mother, and was quite good at it, but now she preferred her guitar. Massive tapestries and paintings festooned the walls, and when the dark wood floors weren't cleared for dancing thick rugs warmed them.

They were all gone. The piano, the paintings, the rugs. Carefully stored away in a secret bunker her father constructed so many years ago. The manor was being tucked away seamlessly into the South Carolina countryside, boarded up with its memories locked inside, until Blaez was ready to pursue them again. In less than an hour a dragon the color of the richest Italian wine would land in a cloud of dust on the sprawling front lawn. He would transform into her grandfather, whom she knew only by letters he sent every month. Then he would take her away on the safety of his dragon back. He would fly her across the ocean to England, where she must begin life again. She would leave behind her friends, her childhood, to begin anew in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She would even take on a new name. Instead of Blaez Aldhouse, the princess of the Aldhouse horseracing empire, she would be Blaez Weylyn, the granddaughter of Elder Thane Weylyn, Lord of the Three Realms. The idea wearied her already.

Idly Blaez scratched at the fine diamond of strange skin underneath her shirt, just above her belly button. The scales gleamed like a finely linked chain of rubies, the deepest scarlet, when exposed to the light. Blaez had described the strange marking to her grandfather in one of their last exchanged letters. _A scarlet mark _he wrote back with obvious pleasure _Oh you will be quite a queen indeed my dear! I fear to take you to Telesto, where the drakes will never let you alone!_

Grandfather had always exclaimed over "what a fine dragon" she would make. Sometimes, Blaez would ride her sturdy horse Spartan out to the sandy river banks. There she would stay for hours trying to enter the state Grandfather described, and become the dragon he always said she would be.

It never worked. Blaez always rode home disappointed.

Blaez stretched out her long legs in front of her, wincing as she felt the tug of a cramp in her calf. She had been sitting there in the middle of the Great Room for some time. Harrison, her father's butler, often had come in asking if she was alright. She always dismissed him harshly. Harrison's kindness was not what she needed. What she needed was a dizzying deluge of cold hard reality. Though she knew she should try to be nicer to the man who had practically raised her alongside her parents. Harrison would be caring for the estate in her absence.

Suddenly Blaez was very angry. Why did her parents have to die? Leaving her with so many loose ends, with a life she could have lived taken away all too abruptly. Tears she had pushed away angrily stung the corners of her eyes. Rapidly she blinked her eyelids over the deep green irises. No…she hadn't cried since she found her parents. She didn't cry as their bodies were taken away. She didn't cry at their funeral on the banks of the river they loved. She didn't cry when she found out that all of their racehorses would be sold, and the money gained placed into a trust fund for her when she came of age, per her father's will. She didn't cry when she found everything remaining in the Aldhouse Empire wasn't officially hers until she turned eighteen. She didn't cry when her grandfather sent a letter saying she was being transferred to Hogwarts, so she would be closer to him. She didn't cry then, she wanted to, but she didn't. She wouldn't cry now.

Instead she got angry. She got angry at the snub nosed lawyers who were supposed to protect her interests even when her father was gone, and her grandfather for coming to take her to Europe. Rage swelled inside her chest hissing and snapping like an angry cat. Normally, Blaez would have exploded. She would have found someone to bellow her complaints at. No…not today.

Smoothly Blaez got to her feet. She raised her pointed chin as she clenched her jaw. Slowly she turned on her bare heals dusted black by her morning walk through the gardens and the stables. Holding herself with dignity, as if she was wearing one of her gowns instead of shorts and a tank top, she strode from the Great Room. With a determined expression she walked out the massive double mahogany doors, and down the breezeway to the sweeping spiral staircase in the magnificent steeple ceiling foyer.

She walked up, up the stairs. The lush red carpet that normally ran down the center was gone, as was the family portrait on the wall. Her feet carried her along the familiar path to her bedroom overlooking the gardens. Long dark hair the color of freshly grown coffee had fallen loose from its hair tie and fell in graceful cascades over her lightly freckled shoulders.

Unlike the rest of the house, her room was not completely empty. Padded crates scattered around the large suite hinted at what was to come. And her messenger hawk, Patriot, was worrying the bars of his cage as he was prepared for transport. Spartan, the big bay horse she loved like a brother, would be readied by a groom tomorrow morning and also shipped overseas to Hogwarts. Grandfather had to pull some strings to get the stallion a place on the school's grounds, but the man longed to make Blaez happy. It had worked for a little while before Blaez remembered that she had to go to England too.

Nearby a small selection of her possessions had been packed into a handsome trunk and several bags for her third year at Hogwarts. But half her things were as cluttered on the shelves as they always were. The other half was packed away carefully by the servants. She had sent them all away angrily before they finished. Somehow this was something she needed to do for herself. She had put it off far too long, her grandfather would be there in a matter of minutes. Well, he could wait.

Deftly Blaez strode across the room and flung open the French doors that led to the porch spanning between the sturdy colonnades. A warm breeze stirred the posters still hanging on her wall and a wind chime tinkled. Then, without pomp or circumstance, she seized a pile of her lovely leather bound books and piled them into an open crate.

She resigned herself to her fate. She would leave. But Aldhouse Manor was still hers. No matter what the papers said Aldhouse was still her last name, not Weylyn. No longer did she dream of dragon wings and scarlet scales. All her dreams were swept away in a cold rush of reality when she found her parents on the stone floor of their kitchen, once a haven of safety and love. Keon and Jen Aldhouse were dead, and Blaez was as good as.

As soon as the law allowed it, Blaez would come home. She would return to the Manor, and the life she was forced to leave behind.

…

"But _why _do you have to leave?"

Tor sighed and shook his head, rolling his fur-lined winter cloak and tucking it away in his canvas bag. Crush bounced on his bed making Tor's precariously piled clothing shiver threateningly. Tor shooed him away and carefully tucked the pile into the bag, conserving as much space as possible. There were only so many things he could take with him, for he had to carry everything himself.

Crush jumped off the low bed and paced anxiously around the perimeter of their small dome apartments. He made several circuits, stopping at the window to chew his lip nervously before walking again. Tor glanced over his shoulder to contemplate his brother. At fifteen, ten years younger then Tor was, Crush was still a slight youth. He had none of Tor's brawn. As a dragon he was just as slender and lithe, and just as tall. His hair was the same glossy black, but it was floppy and unkempt. Crush was swiftly becoming a man and a full grown Lord, but he was still a boy.

"I've told you several times Crush," Tor said with an exasperated sigh, "I can't tell you yet." Carefully he wrapped his prized box of woodcarving tools in a soft cloth before padding it with his blankets in his bag. Crush threw himself to the woven carpet on the floor with a sulky expression. He stared at his history book and still unused parchment with the forlorn look of a puppy.

"You aren't using this as an excuse to get out of your lessons are you?" Tor accused.

Crush looked affronted, "_No!_ I don't want you to leave!"

Tor shook his head as he buckled the bag closed after satisfying his needs. He hefted it onto his shoulder and dropped it by the wood plank door.

"I need to Crush," Tor said sadly, "I promised the council."

Crush blew a raspberry and crossed his arms stubbornly over his widening chest. "If you can't stay then why can't I come with you?"

"Because you have five more years of training," Tor reminded him gently, "You don't want to leave before you come a Lord do you? His copper eyes met the boy's soft hazel ones kindly. Tor was shocked but he didn't let it show. Crush looked genuinely upset by him leaving. Tor thought Crush would dance around in celebration at his departure. He had prepared himself for that, not this morose sulking.

"I guess," Crush conceded reluctantly. He looked up at Tor with pleading eyes, "Can't you at least tell me where you are going?"

Tor considered. "North," he offered.

Crush cocked a curious eyebrow but said nothing. He grabbed his dirty feet in his hands and rocked thoughtfully. Like Tor, Crush went barefoot during the hot months of summer, sometimes wearing Greek sandals when he had to walk through town. Apprentices were rarely in their human forms anyways with daily training.

"You'll write?" Crush looked carefully at his older brother.

Tor winced guiltily, "Yeah. I promise I will this time. You know it was difficult for me last time, with dad and all."

"But I'm here now," Crush nodded as if that settled the matter.

"Yes, you are." Tor smiled suddenly. "I've never been more proud of you Crush, leaving home like that. I was afraid that you wouldn't have the strength to do it, but you proved to be even stronger than me. I'm sure dad kept a tighter leash on you after I got out of there."

"He did," answered Crush gravely, "But I think that's what pushed me out the door."

Tor strolled across the rounded room to the window. He leaned against it watching two youngsters, not even apprenticed yet, being taught to fly by a tolerant drake. The trio all stood on the roof of their home overlooking the sparkling turquoise water. The drake, obviously their father, gently nudged the tiny dragons into the air with his nose. Tor smiled despite the fact he never shared tender moments like that with his own father.

Crush was still watching him. The boy scratched an ear as he looked at Tor sadly. "When are you leaving?"

Tor's eyes fell on the distant sloping horizon of the Mediterranean Sea. Then they trailed around the room to the solid wall behind the bunks where he and Crush slept, northbound. He looked back towards his brother with an even look. "At sunset."

…

Blaez sat on the edge of the sweeping porch that wrapped around the second level of the Manor house. Her bare legs dangled through the railings as she watched the dragon's approach. Cook had brought her up a plate of taquitos, her favorite food. The thought of her best friend May (Blaez sometimes called her Mayhem affectionately, the name kinda stuck) laughing at her extreme liking of the fatty, greasy muggle food had made a faint ache in her stomach that wouldn't seem to go away. Except for a vague letter she sent to her friend explaining that she had to leave, May would never know what happened to her best friend since they were toddlers.

Her grandfather was an approaching smear of red against the lush green of the surrounding countryside. He flew low to the tree line to avoid being seen, even though he was safely over Aldhouse property now. If Blaez wasn't sulking angrily she would have been in awe of the creature flying towards her. All the dragons she saw in her textbooks at school had been giant reptilian creatures, ugly and evil-looking. But this was the dragon of fantasy. Smooth and streamlined with a beautiful face, like that of a handsome horse, but jeweled with a thousands crystals.

But she was still sulking. Thane approached rapidly. He didn't seem to see her as he slowly, flaring his massive wings wide. Delicately he lowered himself to the ground with several steadying beats of wings. Blaez pulled her knees from in between the railings and got to her feet grabbing the plate as she stood. She turned back into her now bare bedroom. All that remained was a leather backpack and a carved wood box on the empty mattress. A crew had come in a half an hour ago to bring her trunk downstairs and nail shut the crates, then carry them out to the bunker to await transport to Greece. As she reached for her bag Harrison appeared in the doorway. The man looked twice as old as he had that morning when he woke her with her usual morning coffee.

"I know," Blaez sighed as she scooped the last remaining possession in the blank empty space that had suddenly lost its meaning, her mother's jewelry box. "He's here. I know."

After tucking the box carefully into her bag along with her wand and other necessary items she looped her bag over her shoulder, and eased her feet into a pair of battered sneakers. She didn't bother with socks. Through the still open doors she could hear the deep tones of a man conversing with Cook. Nana Cook sounded like she was firmly instructing her grandfather on how Blaez should be fed on the long journey. Despite herself Blaez smiled.

"Come along Madam," Harrison said softly. Blaez noticed how very white Harrison's hair was, how many lines sagged in his ancient face.

"Okay," Blaez murmured. She followed Harrison out the door. Down the hallway, down the spiral staircase. Through the front door to the sweeping veranda, down the steps onto the wide green that sprawled in front of the house. A solitary man waited for her. A tall, large man with a shock of white hair and remarkably bright green eyes. When Blaez walked to him and looked at his face, she knew this was her father's father. This was what Papa would have looked like when he was old. He was never given the chance.

"Blaez," he said, "Blaez, my dearest granddaughter, we meet at last." Even when he strained to speak softly, his voice boomed. _Like a dragon's _Blaez found herself thinking.

She couldn't come up with something witty or friendly to say to her grandfather who watched her kindly. "Yes," she managed lamely. Standing next to Thane Weylyn made her realized just how short she was at a tiny five foot two, with only a few more inches to grow according to her doctor. This man had to be over six feet at _least! _As suddenly as her wonder came it fled as she remembered what Thane was here for. Blaez crossed her arms, tilting her weight onto one hip automatically. She knew she was making _the _face. The glowering face where her freckled nose wrinkled slightly and her brows pinched angrily. May had once said her eyes seemed to send out flecks of gold whenever she made that face, or whenever she was emotional at all really.

For a moment Thane looked completely bewildered. Blaez shifted uncomfortably, had she done something? Then his face lit up and a thunder of laughter exploded from the old man's chest. Blaez glanced at Harrison who watched Thane cautiously.

"For a moment I thought I was looking at your father," Thane shook his head. "That scowl…he got it from your grandmother. And now you have it."

With a wry chuckled Thane shook his head. Blaez sucked in a breath. It was like her father coming back from the dead. The shape of her grandfather's face, the exact shade of his eyes, Papa's eyes, _her _eyes, the tall sturdiness, the slight quirk of his eyebrows when he was spoken to. Blaez blinked rapidly. She would not cry.

Thane looked towards the sky, then towards Harrison. "If you would, kind sir, tell me where her things are? We must hurry if we are to reach England by dawn tomorrow." He turned his kind, kind green eyes towards Blaez. "Are you ready for a long flight, dearest?"

Blaez nodded as she carefully examined the ratty ends of her shoelaces. Who was she anymore? She certainly wasn't acting like the sharp tongued heiress to Aldhouse Manor, a force of nature to be reckoned with. Blaez's shoulders, usually held with a proud set, sagged. She was acting like a hopeless Witch with nothing to her name or spirit except a lowcountry twang and a pretty face. It fit, considering that was how she felt.

As Harrison began to lead Thane grimly towards Blaez's things on the veranda, Thane suddenly turned back. For a moment Blaez swore she saw the old man's eyes twist with a different color as he watched her sadly. She gaped after him as he turned away and continued to follow the butler.

Before Blaez could consider it any further Thane was calling her. "Come here Blaez, before we leave I need to tell you what to do."

After a moment of thought Blaez jogged over to Thane's side by her trunk. Thane was deftly tapping her things with his wand murmuring incantations under his breath. She swore she saw her possessions give a little shiver, but it might just be a trick of the heat.

"You will ride on my back," He said as he stuck his wand into his belt, "It will be a long cold flight over the North Atlantic but we must not stop. I have fashioned a saddle you can ride and sleep in without falling from my back. I assure you it won't be comfortable but there is no safer way to travel then in the company of a dragon."

He smiled affectionately at her, "Soon you will be able to make the journey yourself."

Blaez began to open her mouth to protest but Thane was swiping his wand again. The trunks and bags levitated, rising slowly off the ground. Confidently Thane strode back onto the green the pile of things floating just ahead of him. Smiling with satisfaction he gently rested the pile on the ground. He looked up at Blaez pointedly as he tucked his wand back into his belt.

"Well, its best we hurry," he insisted. "The Hogwarts Express leaves at nine tomorrow morning with or without us."

Blaez nodded blankly. Her grandfather was doing all the talking. It was just as well, she didn't want to open her mouth and risking crying again. Suddenly Harrison was hugging her. Blaez, despite herself, hugged the old butler back fiercely.

"Take care of home," she murmured into his shoulder. His suit, as always smelled of shoe polish and her father's favorite pipe tobacco.

"I will," Harrison promised, "Aldhouse Manor will be waiting for you whenever you are ready to come back." The old man sounded oddly choked. Blaez glanced over her shoulder and saw the remained skeleton crew of servants, the most loyal to the Aldhouse family, watching on sadly.

When Harrison finally released her Blaez turned back to her grandfather. Thane was suddenly a massive dragon again. Despite herself the giant creature in front of her made her heart thunder. Already he was laying down glancing pointedly at his shoulder with golden eyes unlike his green ones. A saddle had been strapped in a gap between the spikes that ridged along his spine.

With a sorrowful glance at the people who had raised her, and the house she had been raised in, Blaez lifted her chin. She strode to her grandfather, seized a stirrup, and swung onto his back. She knew, as Thane shifted his weight onto his powerful hind legs to grip Blaez's things in his talons, that this marked a turning point. This was the end of her life as Blaez Isolde Aldhouse, and began her new one as Blaez Isolde Weylyn, Lord of the Three Realms.

**Author's Note: **First chapter, still taking some time to get to the Harry Potter part but its getting there. As always, Rowling and Hobb owns it


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